Andrew Heaney came out of the bullpen to make a spot start, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings as the Texas Rangers clinched a postseason berth with a 6-1 victory against the host Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
Jonah Heim drove in three runs for the Rangers (90-71), who guaranteed themselves at least one of the three American League wild-card spots. Texas is headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Eugenio Suarez homered for the Mariners (87-74), who were eliminated from the playoff race when Houston beat Arizona later Saturday night.
Heaney, a left-hander who last started on Sept. 4 and pitched in relief in the series opener on Thursday night, allowed five hits, walked one and struck out two.
Reliever Josh Sborz (6-7) entered with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning and got out of the jam to earn the victory.
Mariners ace Luis Castillo (14-9) failed to last five innings for the first time this season. The right-hander gave up four runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start since May 2019 while with Cincinnati. He walked five and struck out four.
The Rangers broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the third inning.
Marcus Semien drew a leadoff walk before Castillo retired the next two batters. Adolis Garcia reached on an infield single and Nathaniel Lowe grounded a single to center, scoring Semien. Josh Jung walked to load the bases and Heim then fouled off three 0-2 pitches before grounding a two-run single to right. Leody Taveras lined a base hit to right to make it 4-0.
Texas added a run in the fourth as Mariners reliever Matt Brash struggled with his command. Corey Seager led off by grounding a single into left field. An out later, Brash threw a wild pitch to allow Seager to take second before walking Garcia. With two outs, Brash hit Jung with a pitch and then walked Heim to bring home the run.
The Rangers also scored in the eighth as Evan Carter drew a leadoff walk and scored on Semien’s double to left.
The Mariners avoided the shutout on Suarez’s solo shot to left off Cody Bradford in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
